The use of printed circuit boards, PCB's, is a standard method for connecting electrical components. The connections are specified by printed circuit traces which run on a surface of a planar printed circuit board. Printed circuit boards offer good protection from electrostatic discharges and have good properties with respect to electromagnetic compatibility. Printed circuit traces may provide a very dense connecting network, to be sure, but they are essentially limited to one plane, so that connections, which do not run in parallel to the printed circuit board, have to be provided using additional components or mechanical systems.
Three-dimensional printed circuit board structures may be produced using injection-molded circuit carriers, MID's, whereby a housing and a circuit carrier are made into one. Based on the production method, MID substrates are only able to produce simple circuit structures having few components and a low area concentration. Through-hole plating is possible only in limited fashion. If injection-molded circuit carriers are used, further miniaturizations are possible, especially in the case of circuits having three-dimensional elements, such as measuring sensors or electric contact devices.
According to the related art, particularly because of the different properties, production processes and application possibilities, are used separately from each other as circuit carrier. Since MID is a very recent technology, no usual connecting mechanical systems are known that have a low degree of complexity.